The conventional drawer slide includes a drawer member and a cabinet member, and may include an intermediate member as well as a conventional self-closing mechanism. Typically, the drawer slide is mounted between a side of a drawer and a sidewall of a cabinet, with the drawer member affixed to the drawer, and the cabinet member affixed to the cabinet. With only a drawer member and a cabinet member, the drawer slide provides a maximum of ¾ extension (or travel). However, when an intermediate member is employed, the drawer slide provides full extension.
The drawer slide facilitates the opening and closing of a drawer in a cabinet. Thus, slides are used with drawers and trays to allow easy access to stored articles. In storage applications, where heavy articles may be stored, the slide members are subjected to very high forces, especially when the drawer is fully loaded and the slide is in the extended position. Under these high load conditions, the members in a conventional slide assembly will twist and bend, which eventually leads to fatigue failure after repeated opening and closing cycles. The member that is most susceptible to this kind of failure is the intermediate member because it encounters the highest levels of stress. In addition, although conventional slide assemblies employ one or more ball race tracks to keep the members together, they often fail to provide for optimum lateral stability.
The conventional self closing mechanism may include a slide component slidably mounted on, e.g., the cabinet member of the drawer slide and spring biased in the closing direction of the drawer slide, and an engagement component fixedly mounted on, e.g., the drawer member of the drawer slide. When the drawer slide is in the closed position, the engagement component is fully engaged with the slide component. As the drawer slide is pulled open, the engagement component pulls the slide component in the opening direction of the drawer slide against the spring force. When the slide component reaches a certain point, it locks into position and releases the engagement component. The slide component remains in the locked position until it is released by the engagement component when the drawer slide is pushed back to a closed position. Once it is released, the spring-biased slide component, now back in full engagement with the engagement component, pulls the engagement component in the closing direction of the drawer slide, thereby pulling the drawer slide to a closed position.
The conventional drawer slide/self-closing mechanism system has various drawbacks. For example, it is known that the conventional drawer slide is designed so that it can be expanded to a maximum width before it can no longer function properly. However, depending on the width of the drawer slide and the sidespace within which it is to be mounted (i.e., the space between the side of the drawer and the sidewall of the cabinet), certain configurations may be called for wherein, although the drawer slide remains functional, the self-closing mechanism does not because the engagement component can no longer reliably engage with the slide component.
Another drawback of the conventional self-closing mechanism is that, when mounted within the cabinet member of a drawer slide, it allows the intermediate member to slam against it. Excessive and/or repeated slamming can damage the self-closing mechanism and cause it to malfunction. In addition, the conventional self-closing mechanism typically has a high profile such that, when it is mounted within the cabinet member of a drawer slide, it does not allow the intermediate member and/or the drawer member to slide over it. This results in a decreased sliding length with respect to the drawer and intermediate members, which, in turn, lowers the load-bearing capacity of the drawer system.